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ATD Blog

What Are the Essentials of vILT?

Tuesday, May 23, 2017
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Understanding the capabilities of your virtual instructor-led training platform is essential to designing engaging and effective online learning. But what engagement tools should you use? And which tools best support the instructional design and learning outcomes? I recently spoke with Dr. Nanette Miner, who facilitates ATD’s Essentials of Designing for WebEx Training Center, for answers to these and other questions. 

Nanette is a nationally known author and consultant in the field of workplace learning, and serves as the president and managing consultant for The Training Doctor, LLC.  As an instructional designer for more than two decades, she is unique in that she is able to design curriculum for all delivery mediums including the traditional classroom, asynchronous, and synchronous e-learning, or a blend of all mediums.  

According to Nanette, you’d be hard pressed to find an organization that isn’t delivering some portion of their learning online, but few are doing it really well. Fortunately, she explains that this course not only equips learners with the tips and tricks of the WebEx platform, it also advises instructional designers how to transition their skills from the traditional classroom to virtual instructor-led training (vILT). For instance, the first session of this Essentials course starts its exploration of vILT best practices by reviewing topics like the importance of visuals and difference between interaction and collaboration. 

In fact, each Essentials course is broken into three parts. The second portion of Essentials of Designing for WebEx Training Center focuses specifically on using the WebEx Training Center platform to its best advantage. Participants will learn about terminology, roles, and specific tools. For example, Nanette explains in the Q&A three ways designers may want to use polls: 1) establish demographics, 2) ask opinions, or 3) to move the course content along to the next objective. 

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Gaining expertise in these tools is essential for success because you don’t want the learners to “get hung up on the technology,” says Nanette. “I want the use of the technology to be so seamless that the learner barely notices.” To that end, this section of the course also covers some stumbling blocks designers may encounter with the technology and how to avoid them. 

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The last session  of Essentials of Designing for WebEx Training Center puts it all together and reviews how to establish best practices for each organization. The goal, says Nanette, is to give attendees the knowledge to “be the authority on vILT in their organizations.” 

Listen to the complete podcast for more insight into which content is best delivered online, how to choose tools based on the outcomes you wish to achieve, and what are some of the best practices for live, online deliveries for your organization. Register today for Essentials of Designing for WebEx Training Center. 

About the Author

Justin Brusino is director of content at ATD. In his role, he’s responsible for developing new content and products, including articles, webcasts, books, conferences, workshops, and more, on a variety of talent development topics. With a strong interest in technology, Justin is always looking at new trends and emerging topics that can impact the talent development industry. He is the editor of the book ATD’s 2020 Trends in Learning Technology.

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